Global M&A Trends and Risks Report Unveiled by Mergermarket's Website
Global M&A Market Shows Cautious Optimism in 2025
The third edition of the Global M&A trends and risks report, jointly published by a global law firm and Mergermarket, highlights a complex landscape for dealmaking in 2025. The report is based on a survey of 200 top-level executives from multinational corporations, large private equity firms, and major investment banks.
A Resilient M&A Market
Despite macroeconomic, geopolitical, and policy volatility, the M&A and capital markets have remained robust. Companies with consistent profitable growth are pursuing deals with creativity, courage, and conviction, keeping the market resilient. Improved business confidence due to optimism around US tariff policy resolution is driving robust M&A volume and deal counts in the first half of 2025, with favorable conditions expected to accelerate activity in the second half of the year.
Regional and Sector Divergences
EMEA’s M&A volumes grew strongly (~11% YoY) despite geopolitical risks and market volatility, supported by improving economic outlooks and falling interest rates. In contrast, North American M&A activity cooled in Q2 2025 as deal counts and aggregate transaction values declined, with dealmakers more cautious about economic policy impacts.
Sector-specific dynamics also play a significant role. Financial services M&A showed growth, with deal values rising significantly in European and Asian markets. Insurance M&A deals declined globally in H1 2025, with carriers cautious due to geopolitical uncertainty, inflation, and high valuations, favoring smaller, domestic bolt-on deals.
Challenges and Opportunities
Geopolitical uncertainty and inflationary concerns continue to suppress dealmaking appetite, particularly cross-border activity. High valuations and market volatility present challenges in deal pricing and execution, prompting selective acquisitions and a focus on cost optimization rather than large-scale M&A. Economic policy and regulatory landscape uncertainties induce caution among dealmakers, although updates may also create opportunistic windows if reacted to strategically.
Expectations for 2025
Fifty-three percent of respondents expect their organization's appetite for M&A to increase in 2025 compared to last year. However, market turmoil due to reciprocal tariff announcements caused a decrease in appetite for M&A for more than two-thirds of respondents.
At the global level, 35 percent of respondents expect it to become more difficult to secure M&A-related financing in 2025 compared with 2024. Private credit is forecasted to be the single most important form of financing for M&A deals over the next two years.
Active Acquirers in 2025
Respondents expect domestic strategic buyers to be the most active acquirers in 2025, particularly in emerging markets such as Latin America, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. Forty-four percent of survey participants expect domestic private equity buyers to be among the most active types of acquirers in deal markets in 2025.
Increased Use of Representations and Warranties Insurance
Nearly 65 percent of respondents expect the use of representations and warranties insurance (RWI) to increase in 2025 compared to 2024. More than 45 percent of respondents in the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia forecast a significant increase in the use of RWI.
Contact Information
For more information, please contact Dan McKenna, the US Director and Global Head of PR and Communications, at Tel: 1 713 651 3576. For Europe, Middle East, and Asia, contact Louise Nelson, the Head of PR, at Tel: 44 20 7444 5086 or Cell: 44 79 0968 4893.
The global corporate, M&A and securities team of our website provides legal advice on a wide range of matters, including public transactions, take-privates, strategic review processes, joint ventures, carveout dispositions and acquisitions, debt and equity capital markets transactions, governance, compliance, general commercial and corporate advisory matters.
In the resilient M&A market of 2025, technology-driven businesses and companies in the financial service sector are taking advantage of improved business confidence and favorable conditions by pursuing deals with creativity, as shown by the growth in financial services M&A, with deal values rising significantly in European and Asian markets.
Private credit is forecasted to be the single most important form of financing for M&A deals over the next two years, indicating that technology companies, particularly fintech startups, may find greater opportunities for growth and expansion through private credit financing.
